Health

Boston researchers working on blood test for autism

Getting a diagnosis for autism is not easy, with many children having to wait to see specially trained doctors and specialists who spend hours observing the child’s behaviour before rendering a verdict. But U.S. doctors are working on an experimental blood test they believe might help detect the disorder – even before symptoms begin.

Vials of freshly manufactured Novavax COVID-19 vaccines wait to be labelled in 2022, in Pune, India. (Serum Institute of India for Novavax via AP)

For Canadians seeking a non-mRNA COVID vaccine, lack of Novavax shot is 'unfair,' advocates say

The federal government's decision to not provide Novavax's COVID-19 vaccine this respiratory virus season raises health equity concerns, experts and advocates say, as some Canadians look to the U.S. to get the shot.

The mother, identified only be her last name Li, welcomed a boy and a girl via caesarean section. (Pexels)

Woman with rare double uterus gives birth to twins

A woman with the rare condition of two uteruses delivered twins, one from each womb, last month at a hospital in northwestern China, according to health officials and state media.

Alexander Fleming is pictured in his laboratory at St. Mary's Hospital in London in 1943. (Davies / Hulton Archive / Getty Images)

Medallion containing original mould from discovery of penicillin goes up for auction

A medallion containing some of the original mould involved in the discovery of penicillin is expected to fetch up to US$50,000 when it goes up for auction later this month.

A study found black plastic kitchen utensils such as spatulas and slotted spoons were contaminated. (Grace Cary / Moment RF / Getty Images / File via CNN Newsource)

Black-coloured plastic used for kitchen utensils and toys linked to banned toxic flame retardants

Black-coloured plastic used in children’s toys, takeout containers, kitchen utensils and grocery meat and produce trays may contain alarming levels of toxic flame retardants that may be leaching from electronic products during recycling, a new study found.

Protection against RSV coming soon for all infants in Ontario, Quebec, Nunavut

This fall and winter, Ontario, Quebec and Nunavut will offer the newer monoclonal antibody nirsevimab — approved by Health Canada in the spring of 2023 — to all babies going through their first RSV season.

Novovax COVID-19 vaccines incubate in flasks at the company research laboratory in Gaithersburg, Md., on May 24, 2022. (Angie Wang / AP Photo)

Canadian government not ordering Novavax's protein-based COVID-19 vaccine this year

The Public Health Agency of Canada says it is not providing Novavax's COVID-19 vaccine this respiratory virus season, citing low demand.

Black-coloured plastic used for kitchen utensils and toys linked to banned toxic flame retardants

Black-coloured plastic used in children’s toys, takeout containers, kitchen utensils and grocery meat and produce trays may contain alarming levels of toxic flame retardants that may be leaching from electronic products during recycling, a new study found.

An electron microscope photo of the Marburg virus. An outbreak of the deadly virus has been confirmed in the Central African country of Equatorial Guinea. (Thomas Geisbert/University of Texas Medical Branch)

Rwanda is dealing with its first outbreak of deadly Marburg virus disease

For the first time in Rwanda’s history, its health ministry is dealing with an outbreak of Marburg virus disease, a rare but deadly hemorrhagic disease similar to Ebola – but unlike Ebola, there is no treatment or vaccines for Marburg, and it has a fatality rate of 88 per cent.